My time in Aotearoa New Zealand is coming to an end. I am so grateful to have had this time to explore and learn about New Zealand and NZ schools. This is truly a special place and I was fortunate to connect with so many thoughtful educators.

My final project is about Supporting Teachers to Change the Grammar of School. The project is based on the belief that teachers need personalized support in order to expand their vision of classroom learning. I break this down into different actions:

• Provide teachers with permission, models, and mentorship, (not PD Training).
• Teacher Agency leads to Student Agency. When teachers have the freedom to design, explore, and create, students get to experience learning that validates culture and humanity.
• Use school as an opportunity to build authentic, caring community.
  • Move away from compliance as dominant feature of schooling.
  • Have students create rather than reproduce knowledge.
  • Remove separation between school and society.
  • Importance of small acts:
    • Informal conversations
    • Interest in student lives
    • Ask for legitimate thinking
• Restructure curriculum, redefine learning:
  • Build on cultural framework, have students create
  • Opposition scholarship (from Calmore in Milne)
  • Engage communities

You can view the full presentation here:

Note: This is a personal blog. All views and information presented herein are my own and do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program or the US Department of State.